Contaminants
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Contaminants
General Information
NEWS:
Alarming Levels Of Mercury And Arsenic Found In Chinese Freshwater Ecosystem
Bisphenol A Safe, Says FDA: FDA Issues Draft Report on Bisphenol A Noting "Adequate Margin of Safety" in Typical Exposure From Food “Bisphenol A safety became a hot topic in April, when U.S. government scientists at the National Toxicology Program (NTP) expressed "some" concern about bisphenol A's possible effects on the mammary gland, prostate gland, and accelerated female puberty. Since then, there's been a storm of bisphenol A publicity, with major retailers including Wal-Mart backing away from baby bottles containing bisphenol A, the FDA probing bisphenol A safety, and consumers wondering how concerned they should be. “
Bisphenol A Tied to Health Problems “For the first time, the controversial plastic chemical bisphenol A has been linked to serious health problems -- heart disease anddiabetes -- in people. Bisphenol A, also called BPA, is used in polycarbonate plastic -- hard plastic used in products including some baby bottles and refillable water bottles -- and in epoxy resins, which line some canned goods and are also in dental composites and sealants. Bisphenol A isn't found in softer plastics, such as single-serving water bottles. A new study links high urinary levels of bisphenol A to a history of heart disease or diabetes, and to abnormally high concentrations of liver enzymes. The study doesn't prove that bisphenol A caused those problems. But the findings are "disturbing," says David Schardt, MS, senior nutritionist of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. The plastics industry, on the other hand, stands by bisphenol A's safety.”
Bisphenol A: Some Concerns Remain
Cap's Off of Plastic Chemical Concerns “Government scientists today weighed in on possible health risks linked to the plastic chemical bisphenol A -- and in some cases, they note higher risk than their advisory panel. That news comes amid media reports that Canada's government may soon classify bisphenol A as a dangerous substance. The chemical, found in polycarbonate plastic, is used in a range of food containers, from baby and water bottles to the resins that line metal food cans. ... Both groups agreed that there already was some concern that exposure to the chemical could cause neural and behavioral effects in fetuses, infants, and children.”
Children more vulnerable to harmful effects of lead “Contrary to prevailing assumptions, children are more vulnerable to the harmful effects of lead exposure at the age of 6 than they are in early childhood, according to a Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center study to be presented May 4 at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies in Honolulu. “Although we typically worry about protecting toddlers from lead exposure, our study shows that parents and pediatricians should be just as, if not more concerned about lead exposure in school-aged children,” says Richard Hornung, Dr.P.H., a researcher in the division of general and community pediatrics at Cincinnati Children’s and the study’s main author. The researchers found that blood lead concentrations (BPb) at age 6, compared to those at younger ages, are more strongly associated with IQ and reduced volume of gray matter in the prefrontal cortex of the brain, which is involved in planning, complex thinking and moderating behavior.“
Contaminants in Human Milk: Weighing the Risks against the Benefits of Breastfeeding “When it comes to feeding the newborn, human milk is, from an evolutionary perspective, the biological norm, the time-tested standard of care. The health benefits to the infant of breastfeeding have been amply documented; numerous studies strongly indicate significantly decreased risks of infection, allergy, asthma, arthritis, diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and various cancers in both childhood and adulthood. Among the more fundamental disadvantages of not being breastfed is a loss of immunologic protection afforded by maternal colostrum, a "pre-milk" fluid secreted only during the first days after delivery, as well as numerous other bioactive factors that help protect the infant through the first two years of life, when the immune and nervous systems are incompletely developed. Nevertheless, given the tendency for persistent organic pollutants (POPs), pesticides, heavy metals, and other contaminants to accumulate in human milk, researchers and parents alike are asking whether the nursling's exposure to these pollutants might reduce or even override the health benefits.”
Dangers in Your Backyard: A New Cause of Diabetes “The study found PCBs may be the newest risk factors for diabetes in adults between the ages of 35 to 54, regardless of their race, obesity, family history or gender. The people who live near the plant had levels four times greater than those who don't live here – and had two to four times greater risk of getting diabetes. … Another shocking discovery -- the children of parents with high PCB levels scored nine points lower in one IQ measurement than children whose parents did not have high levels of PCBs in their bodies.”
Dangers in Your Backyard: Toxic Sandbox “Libby says her research shows the chemicals in plastics called phthalates are known to harm reproductive organs in boys and cause liver and kidney problems. What can you do in your own home to start the process of removing plastic? McDonald advises parents to begin in the bathroom and replace plastic shower curtains with canvas curtains. Then, she says, head to the kitchen and open your refrigerator. She tells parents to replace plastic containers with glass ones and also says to swap your plastic drinking bottles for stainless steel versions; but some doctors say don't go overboard.”
Dental Chair A Possible Source Of Neurotoxic Mercury Waste
Early Lead Poisoning May Boost Alzheimer's Brain Chemicals Years Later, Lab Tests on Monkeys Show
FDA's Conclusion That Chemical Is Safe Is Flawed “The worries about BPA come from the fact that it can mimic the effects of estrogen, a powerful hormone. While the kidneys of mature children and grown-ups quickly eliminate the chemical from their bodies, newborns and infants may retain it for longer periods. Babies can be exposed to BPA through infant formula packaged in containers made with the chemical.”
Fixing Up 'This Old House' May Increase Exposure To Lead In Young
Folk remedies common cause of lead poisoning “The dangerous medicines are manufactured outside the United States and sold in the U.S. by folk healers known as curanderas and in ethnic grocery stores and neighborhood shops that offer herbs and charms. They are usually brought into the country by travelers in their suitcases, thereby slipping past government regulators. "No one's testing these medications," said Dr. Stefanos Kales, an assistant professor of environmental health at the Harvard School of Public Health who researched the problem. "There's no guarantee it doesn't have dangerous levels of lead." Lead is added to many of the concoctions because of its supposed curative properties, even though doctors say it has no proven medical benefits. In other cases, powders and pills become contaminated with lead from soil or through the manufacturing process.“
Formaldehyde Linked to Lou Gehrig's Disease
Lead Exposure Ups Criminal Behavior “Children who are exposed to lead while they’re still in the womb and during early childhood are more likely to end up on the wrong side of the law.”
Lead dangers still lurk in unexpected places “Lead exposure may sound like an old-fashioned health threat, like polio or scurvy. But getting a dangerous dose is more common today than you realize — thanks to sources you'd never expect, such as ceramic dishes, art supplies, and even vegetables grown in city gardens. And although average blood lead levels are way down, new research shows that even low amounts can be harmful, says Ellen Silbergeld, PhD, a professor of environmental health sciences at Johns Hopkins University. Just 4 ug/dl (micrograms per deciliter) can double your risk of a fatal heart attack or stroke, and similar levels may also cause memory loss, says Eliseo Guallar, MD, PhD, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins. “
Lead Linked to Aging in Older Brains “The new work suggests long-ago lead exposure can make an aging person's brain work as if it's five years older than it really is. If that's verified by more research, it means that sharp cuts in environmental lead levels more than 20 years ago didn't stop its widespread effects. "We're trying to offer a caution that a portion of what has been called normal aging might in fact be due to ubiquitous environmental exposures like lead," says Dr. Brian Schwartz of Johns Hopkins University. "The fact that it's happening with lead is the first proof of principle that it's possible," said Schwartz, a leader in the study of lead's delayed effects. Other pollutants like mercury and pesticides may do the same thing, he said.“
Lead Shrinks Kids' Brains: Lead-Linked Brain Loss Permanent; Boys Especially Vulnerable “Lead shrinks children's brains, a long-term study strongly suggests. The damage is permanent. The findings come from the Cincinnati Lead Study, which recruited pregnant women living in neighborhoods with historically high rates of childhood lead poisoning. The study measured kids' lead exposures throughout childhood and then gave 157 of them MRI brain scans when they were 19 to 24 years old. None of the kids in the study had lead poisoning, according to the researchers. University of Cincinnati spectroscopist Kim M. Cecil, PhD, and colleagues found that the more lead a person had in his or her blood as a child, the more certain parts of their brains shrank.”
Link Between Low Level Cadmium Exposure And Lung Disease
Mercury In River Moves Into Terrestrial Food Chain Through Spiders Fed To Baby Birds “Cristol and his co-authors, all students at the College of William and Mary, have been researching mercury impacts on birds along the South River for the past three years. The waters of the river were polluted with industrial mercury sulfate from around 1930 to 1950. He explained that mercury enters the food chain through a process called methylation, in which bacteria convert the mercury to a more potent form. The methylated mercury is passed up the food chain, becoming more concentrated in the bodies of larger animals through a phenomenon known as biomagnification.”
Pets Polluted with Industrial Toxins
PFC Pollutant Harming Loggerhead Turtles, Could Also Signal Danger For Humans “The same chemicals that keep food from sticking to our frying pans and stains from setting in our carpets are damaging the livers and impairing the immune systems of loggerhead turtles--an environmental health impact that also may signal a danger for humans.”
FDA: Possible Risk From Dental Fillings
Potentially Harmful Pesticides Found In All Human Subjects Tested
Potentially Toxic Flame Retardants Highest In California Households “In what may be an unintended consequence of efforts to make furniture safer and less flammable, residents of California have blood levels of potentially toxic flame retardants called PBDEs at levels nearly twice the national average, scientists from Massachusetts and California are reporting. … In the new study, Ami Zota and colleagues note that PBDEs (polybrominated diphenyl ethers) are widely used as flame retardants in upholstered furniture and electronics. The materials are released into the environment as dust particles, where they can accumulate in homes as well as human blood and tissue. Although their exact effects in humans are unclear, studies in animals suggest that PBDEs may cause thyroid, developmental, and reproductive problems.”
Shower Curtains May Be Hazardous to Your Health
Sludge Tested As Lead-Poisoning Fix
Studies on Chemical In Plastics Questioned “As evidence mounts about the risks of using BPA in baby bottles and other products, some experts and industry critics contend that chemical manufacturers have exerted influence over federal regulators to keep a possibly unsafe product on the market. … "Tobacco figured this out, and essentially it's the same model," said David Michaels, who was a federal regulator in the Clinton administration. "If you fight the science, you're able to postpone regulation and victim compensation, as well. As in this case, eventually the science becomes overwhelming. But if you can get five or 10 years of avoiding pollution control or production of chemicals, you've greatly increased your product." “
Toxin Found In Leading Organic Brands “The reason the toxin is present is because it is a byproduct of ethoxylation, a process that the OCA describes as "a cheap short-cut companies use to provide mildness to harsh ingredients". Ethoxylation uses the petrochemical Ethylene Oxide and produces 1,4-Dioxane as a byproduct. OCA reports that 1,4-Dioxane is in the list of known cancer causing chemicals that is published every year by the Governor of California under the state's proposition 65 (the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986). The OCA said that 1,4-Dioxane has "no place" in "natural" or "organic" branded personal care products. According to the group, the California Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classes 1,4-Dioxane as a leading contaminant of groundwater and suspects it to be a kidney toxicant, neurotoxicant and respiratory toxicant. … Steinman recommended consumers wishing to buy organic products check that they contain ingredients certified under the USDA National Organic Program. The OCA said all the USDA Certified brands tested in their study were 1,4-Dioxane-free, including Dr. Bronner's, Sensibility Soaps (Nourish), and Terressentials. They also found that all German Natural BDIH certified brands they tested were also free of the toxin, including Aubrey Organics and Dr. Hauschka. The OCA commented that unfortunately most personal care products sold in health food stores that claim to be "organic" contain ingredients that are not certified under the USDA National Organic Program. They contain only "cheap water extracts of organic herbs and maybe a few other token organic ingredients for organic veneer," said the OCA in their press statement. The main ingredient in such products, said the association, is conventional manmande cleansers and conditioning chemicals, made partly using petrochemicals. Market surveys show that consumers are prepared to pay more for products branded as "natural" or "organic", said the OCA. But they are not expecting them to contain petrochemical-modified ingredients or toxin like 1,4-Dioxane.”
Warning: Expert at UH adds obesity to side effects of lead exposure “Scientists know exposure to low levels of lead can result in learning disabilities, hearing loss, language impairments and vision loss, but a newly discovered side effect may be adult-onset obesity in men, according to a University of Houston professor.”
ARTICLES:
JOURNAL ARTICLES:
Blood Lead Concentrations < 10 mug/dL and Child Intelligence at 6 Years of Age. (Environ Health Perspect. 2008) “CONCLUSIONS: Evidence from this cohort indicates that children's intellectual functioning at 6 years of age is impaired by blood lead concentrations well below 10 mug/dL, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention definition of an elevated blood lead level.”
Cadmium: Toxic effects on the reproductive system and the embryo. (Reprod Toxicol. 2008) “The heavy metal cadmium (Cd) is a pollutant associated with several modern industrial processes. Cd is absorbed in significant quantities from cigarette smoke, and is known to have numerous undesirable effects on health in both experimental animals and humans, targeting the kidneys, liver and vascular systems in particular. However, a wide spectrum of deleterious effects on the reproductive tissues and the developing embryo has also been described. In the testis, changes due to disruption of the blood-testis barrier and oxidative stress have been noted, with onset of widespread necrosis at higher dosage exposures. Incorporation of Cd into the chromatin of the developing gamete has also been demonstrated.”
Children Playing With Poison: Arsenic Exposure From CCA-treated Wood (Journal for Nurse Practitioners. 2008)
Chronic arsenic toxicity from Ayurvedic medicines. (Int J Dermatol. 2008)
Dietary and tissue selenium in relation to methylmercury toxicity. (Neurotoxicology. 2008)
Effects of occupational pesticide exposure on children applying pesticides. (Neurotoxicology. 2008) “A dose-effect relationship demonstrated that increased years of exposure to organophosphate pesticides is associated with cognitive deficits. This is one of the several studies demonstrating that functional cognitive effects are positively correlated with increased years of exposure to OP pesticides, though primarily in adult populations, building confidence in the association. Since children around the world are exposed to OP pesticides, these studies suggest that the need to evaluate this potential problem is urgent.”
Effects of Prenatal Exposure to Coal-Burning Pollutants on Children's Development in China (Environ Health Perspect 2008)
Elemental mercury exposure: An evidence-based consensus guideline for out-of-hospital management. (Clin Toxicol (Phila). 2008)
[Environmental lead poisoning from lead-glazed earthenware used for storing drinks.] (Rev Med Interne. 2008)
Household interventions for prevention of domestic lead exposure in children. (Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2008)
Lead contamination in Uruguay: the "La Teja" neighborhood case. (Rev Environ Contam Toxicol. 2008)
Lead contamination of inexpensive plastic jewelry. (Sci Total Environ. 2008) “Coatings obtained by scraping individual beads contained 3.5-23% lead, which far exceeds the US regulatory limit of 0.06% lead in paints on items intended for children. Our results demonstrate that plastic jewelry items merit the attention of public health and consumer protection agencies seeking to limit the exposure of children to lead.”
Risk of Erectile Dysfunction Induced by Arsenic Exposure through Well Water Consumption in Taiwan. (Environ Health Perspect. 2008)
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